Hickory DOH'down

There was a two hour freestyle at the Sport Stable and for the first 45 minutes or so I had the ice to myself. I used that time wisely to run through anything with music (basically, all of my Dances and Free Dance). 

Free Dance - This was my first time running this with the music in my new skates. It was rough. I'm not sure if it was rough because it's been a few weeks since I last ran it to music or if it was the new equipment but it was hella gross. I'll just have to build it back up to where it was before the new skates. 

Cha Cha - I ran this a bunch of times since this is one of the two required dances for my level for the 2022-23 season. I haven't officially decided on music yet but I'm leaning toward "It's so nice to have a man around the house" by Della Reese. I really focused on pushing the pattern out to the corners and having more expression. 

Willow Waltz - I ran this with the music as well and surprised myself at how well I did. I didn't think I was ready to run it at tempo with the music but, dammit, I did the thing! Neat. 

Ten Fox - I did not run it with the music but I worked on the pattern, especially the end pattern. 

Hickory Hoedown - I was doing great until...TOEPICK! I did one pattern down the ice with the music and the end pattern was really lovely and then I caught my toepick on the first step of the new pattern. It hurt. A lot. I didn't think different toepicks could have different levels of hurt when you catch them but out of the three blade types I've skated in, this was the worst toepick fall I've ever had. Both knees are bruised as is my elbow and my left hip. Luckily, I was alone on the ice because it was a very dramatic fall. It would have been really embarrassing if anyone had seen it. Ugh, and I was doing so well up until that point. 

I got some water and hung out by the boards for a bit until the pain mostly subsided and then I got right back to work on non-dance things. At this point, other skaters got on the ice so it was a good time to stop working on programs anyway. 

Moves - I spent a lot of time on Brackets and Double 3s. Now that I can do both FO and FI brackets, I went around the hockey circle alternating feet and directions. I also worked on the BO brackets by the boards but wasn't brave enough to try it out on open ice. I did the same thing with the Double 3s, just working on them in the context of the hockey circle. I didn't do any in the pattern because I want to make sure the turns are stable and consistent. 

Jumps - Hey, my jumps are back! I worked on all of them. 

Spins - I'm still struggling with camels and sits so that's what I spent most of my time on.

So yeah, It was a productive practice but I left the ice battered and bruised. I cancelled tomorrow's Pilates session so I can heal a bit and put ice on all of the hurty parts of myself. I feel like I've been hit my a bus. A really large bus.